


Gentle words

by AugmentedBeauty



Series: Shaun Hastings x Reader oneshots [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Reader-Insert, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 19:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19951663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AugmentedBeauty/pseuds/AugmentedBeauty
Summary: Shaun shows his soft side a bit to cheer up a sad, chubby reader in a moment of discomfort.





	Gentle words

**Author's Note:**

> After years and years, here it is, a self-indulgent piece. I’ve been working on this for centuries, one word after the other, during times where not so great feelings were running around my damned mind. I’m weak for the softest, hidden side of Shaun, and here we are. That’s why I picked him centuries ago. And he also deserves more love.  
> This may have some sort of sequel ‘cause damn, the ending gives me some opportunities.

That horrible feeling was hitting you hard, again. Sometimes you feel terribly down, thinking about every wrong thing that can pop up in your mind about you and how things are going. It was a surprise, but it still did not happen since you have joined the team, but there’s a first time for everything. During those days you just close in your shell, but terribly crave for affection at the same time, and your posts or status updates let clearly understand that something is wrong with you. Usually, you just receive some messages or comments to cheer you up, but sometimes not even that. And the day goes on like this, with those voices inside your head telling you the worst things possible, tears running down your cheeks from time to time, eyes burning like hell. You don’t really believe that this time will be different, you’ll just stay in your room of the safe house, still working or at least trying to despite all the awful shit that is storming in your head. But you suddenly hear a knock on your door.

“Come in” you simply call out to the person on the other side with a neutral tone “Oh, hi Shaun” you greet him with a weaker smile than usual, even if you enjoy his company “Is everything ok?”

“Not exactly. I’ve seen your last status, you know.” That’s enough to make you quite nervous because you don’t know how he will react to it. Should you give a bitter reply and rudely push him away to protect yourself from questions? Should you just wait for him to go on so that maybe he can properly help and cheer you up? He stares at you, waiting for a response, but receiving none of it he keeps talking “I’ll be very direct. I don’t like this. I don’t like what you apparently think of yourself deep down that mind of yours. But what I barely can stand is the fact that you just isolate yourself like this. You practically scream for help, but then you do nothing to get over with your problem. You keep all of this inside you, and so you let those awful thoughts hurt you.” You’re frozen by all his concern that he burst out in just one moment, it’s almost…unlike him. He sighs deeply before speaking to you again in a softer tone “Listen, I’m not asking you to vent out anything if you don’t really want to, but at least let people around you try to make you feel better, once and for all eventually. Even just having a shoulder to cry on is better than keeping all inside of yourself.”

“Where did all your sassiness vanish? It’s pretty strange to see you all bothered like this.”

“Well, I’m so sorry if I have a heart too.”

“There it is” You comment, another smile on your face, still a weak one though. Despite your icy behaviour, he does not show any will to leave your room “Still sticking around me despite my moodiness?” Shaun just nods and sits next to you on your bed.

Seeing him so willing of actually making a difference in your day is heartwarming and refreshing. So much time has passed since someone genuinely worried that much for you and your mental health. You just can’t push him away like this, while he’s kind of opening up so much towards you, showing a rare soft side of his personality. Taking a deep breath, you decide that maybe telling him what actually bothers you could be helpful and could make things clear to him too. “It may sound horribly stupid but…I’m actually feeling so shitty because I don’t like what I see when I look at myself in the mirror, that’s it. I’m extremely insecure about my appearance. I mean…look at my damn thighs, or at me in general. I’m everything but similar to those pretty girls out there. They’re so fit, almost skinny, and then here I am, too thick to be called pretty or beautiful.” You expected him to scold you or to describe your problem like no big deal, but he patiently waits for you to speak up again “I look at the bloody reflection and feel disgusted, or something quite close to it. And then I start to think that there’s nothing in me that can make up for my oh-not-so-good appearance, that even my personality is far to be wholesome, and so I end up feeling that-”

All of a sudden your voice cracks up, and you feel tears running down your face. Your hand instinctively reaches your cheek to wipe them away in a stupid attempt to hide the truth, but Shaun wraps his arms around you, hugging your sobbing form. Your surprised state lasts for barely a second, and then you just enjoy his gesture, letting yourself cry and hide against his chest.

He leaves you be for a while but then speaks up in the softest and most gentle tone possible, almost like he fears of hurting or scaring you otherwise “I know that this is a real problem, something that really makes you suffer. But let me tell you a couple of things. I don’t know who hurt you so much to make you believe that those voices in your head are right, and I don’t even care right now. Whoever has the blame for all of this has never appreciated you as much as you deserve. You’re an awesome person, (y/n), and you deserve every good thing possible. I really mean it, that’s not just some random talk to hush you for a while. There’s nothing wrong with your thighs and your appearance, and they’ll never affect you anyway, at least if the person in front of you is not an asshole. Please, I beg you, don’t let your demons blind you, don’t give them the chance to deprive you of affection or good memories. If you want to change something do it for yourself, not for others, it’s not like everybody can like a person anyway. We’re all too different, such a thing could never happen.” His words seem to trigger something deep within yourself. They were so genuine that you could actually believe them. “I’m not saying that nobody likes you, of course, I wanted to give exactly the opposite message.” He sounds more nervous now, almost like he’s fearing that you misunderstood him, and his behaviour makes you smile “What I wanted to say is that even if someone does not like you that’s no big deal, it’s not like there’s something wrong with you. You’re beautiful just as you are.”

“I get the message, Shaun.” you simply reply with a soft laugh “Thank you, I’m feeling a bit better now. Can’t say that I feel like nothing happened at all but…thank you.”

He’s still holding you gently as you say so. Usually, you would joke about it, maybe even sass him, but you just can’t right now. His hug feels good, and his genuine affection just melts your heart like ice melts in the sun. It all gives you the warmest feeling in your chest. Maybe you both needed this. He’ll never admit it, but your words triggered something in his mind. Maybe he’s even familiar with those awful feelings that hit you here and there. Maybe he perfectly knows how it all feels. But it’s not important now, he’s there for you, and it’s the only thing that matters. He opened up a bit just to make you feel better, to let you know and remind that you matter, that nothing’s wrong with you, with who you are and with how you look. He’s not gonna let go until you say you’ve had enough. It’s not going to happen soon, but he’s fine with it. Shaun Hastings may be sassy, but he cares, and there’s no way he’s going to let people down. And you’ve just learned this in the most beautiful way.


End file.
